In the summer of 2008, Ethiopia was enduring the onslaught of a triple disaster. An estimated 4.5 million people were effected by drought, the cost of basic foods like maize skyrocketed, and rising fuel costs left gas stations like this one without fuel.

Naga and Ali withstand the wet cold of Ethiopia's Simien mountains as they wait for their food to cook. With food costs growing out of reach for the isolated mountain dwellers, and their supplemental income from tourism waning as the summer ends, many are having a hard time getting enough to eat.

Less and less Ethiopians are able to afford meat, which has trippled in price over the past year.

A prostitute waits for patrons in the doorway of a tin shack in Addis Ababa. Widespread prostitution is thought to contribute significantly to the country's 4.4% rate of HIV/AIDS among adults. With 50% of the country living on less than $1 a day, many women are pushed into sex work as a means of survival.

A disabled child drags himself along the ground and begs for money. Ethiopia has an estimated one million orphans, 700,000 of which are thought to have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.

A family in Addis Ababa warm themselves next to burning radios on the side of the road. Unable to survive on farming income, many people rural people have moved to the city since the food crisis hit.

As the government desperately petitions the international community for food aid, young, unemployed Ethiopians continue to pass the time like they always have--with a water pipe full of sweet flavored tobacco and enough chat, a mildly intoxicating leaf, to carry them happily into the evening.